On Query Letters
I’ve finally leapt into the world of query letters and have started to collect the nicest form rejection letters.
Highlights so far include the following:
What strikes me most is how careful these stock replies are about not crushing the recipient’s publication dreams. So far the ones I’ve seen run the line of “it’s us and may not be you,” which is a nice-ish sort of sentiment but not a concrete sort of position you can take to your drafts to improve them.
But I get ahead of myself. A ton of baby steps have to happen before a (coveted?) rejection letter lands in my inbox.
Step one: I have to write the query letter.
I have a basic structure to my query letter that includes pertinent and useful information like title, word count, genre, one-sentence pitch, brief synopsis, similar books, potential readers, and writing experience. But, much like a cover letter for paid employment, I rewrite and customize the letter to each agent.
And finding those agents is a job onto itself.
My big picture goal is to find an agent who likes my work and wants to represent it. In order to find that agent, I do a lot of research into literary agencies and their agents.
While the Writer’s Market is a fantastic resource, it represents a small part of my hunt. After I dog-eared the book to death and took notes on who might be a good match, I branched out. This involves random keyword Google searches, websites like QueryTracker.com, and my favourite books in the dark fantasy genre (I pour over the acknowledgements to find the agents these authors thank).
It’s important to note that each agent and agency has specific and particular submission requirements as well. I find form submissions the most challenging as I often have to chop my query into pieces, then answer more questions I hadn’t yet considered.
The amount of time I spend on each query submission averages about an hour — and that’s with my prewritten query letter and research complete! My goal is to have seven to ten letters out in the world at a time. So far I’ve put four queries out and collected two form rejections.
Form rejections don’t give me a lot to go on where improvement is concerned, but I still review what I sent, get feedback from my circle of family and friends, make changes, then identify my next agent.
I expected this process to feel bad, for rejection to sting, but I’m learning so much and trying so hard that I just feel good. Each query sent out is a baby step in the direction of my dreams. Each rejection is an opportunity to reflect and reconsider how I’m approaching my story and the queries.
It’s exhilarating. And exhausting (because it’s many hours of work).
You can ask me how I feel after I’ve collected my first hundred rejections, or when my second novel joins the first in query letter purgatory come the new year (I’m on track to finish it by December 28th!).
So my goal for 2020 will be to collect no fewer than 100 rejections, because that means I dared to put myself and my work out there. And daring, my darkling loves, makes the heart go thump and the world go round.
Of course, I wouldn’t mind failing due to success. But finding an agent means starting a new cycle of publisher rejections, so even in that scenario, I may make 100 rejections yet.
Highlights so far include the following:
“We say no for many reasons—because of changing trends in the market; because we already have something similar on our list; because we know of similar published or forthcoming titles; because something isn't right for us; because although something may be strong, well-written and even publishable, we didn't fall in love with it.”
“All it takes is one "Yes." We wish you success in finding that "Yes," whether with us or another agent and publisher.”
“Because of the high volume of submissions we receive, unfortunately we are not able to give you more detailed feedback than this.”
What strikes me most is how careful these stock replies are about not crushing the recipient’s publication dreams. So far the ones I’ve seen run the line of “it’s us and may not be you,” which is a nice-ish sort of sentiment but not a concrete sort of position you can take to your drafts to improve them.
But I get ahead of myself. A ton of baby steps have to happen before a (coveted?) rejection letter lands in my inbox.
Step one: I have to write the query letter.
I have a basic structure to my query letter that includes pertinent and useful information like title, word count, genre, one-sentence pitch, brief synopsis, similar books, potential readers, and writing experience. But, much like a cover letter for paid employment, I rewrite and customize the letter to each agent.
And finding those agents is a job onto itself.
My big picture goal is to find an agent who likes my work and wants to represent it. In order to find that agent, I do a lot of research into literary agencies and their agents.
While the Writer’s Market is a fantastic resource, it represents a small part of my hunt. After I dog-eared the book to death and took notes on who might be a good match, I branched out. This involves random keyword Google searches, websites like QueryTracker.com, and my favourite books in the dark fantasy genre (I pour over the acknowledgements to find the agents these authors thank).
It’s important to note that each agent and agency has specific and particular submission requirements as well. I find form submissions the most challenging as I often have to chop my query into pieces, then answer more questions I hadn’t yet considered.
The amount of time I spend on each query submission averages about an hour — and that’s with my prewritten query letter and research complete! My goal is to have seven to ten letters out in the world at a time. So far I’ve put four queries out and collected two form rejections.
Form rejections don’t give me a lot to go on where improvement is concerned, but I still review what I sent, get feedback from my circle of family and friends, make changes, then identify my next agent.
I expected this process to feel bad, for rejection to sting, but I’m learning so much and trying so hard that I just feel good. Each query sent out is a baby step in the direction of my dreams. Each rejection is an opportunity to reflect and reconsider how I’m approaching my story and the queries.
It’s exhilarating. And exhausting (because it’s many hours of work).
You can ask me how I feel after I’ve collected my first hundred rejections, or when my second novel joins the first in query letter purgatory come the new year (I’m on track to finish it by December 28th!).
So my goal for 2020 will be to collect no fewer than 100 rejections, because that means I dared to put myself and my work out there. And daring, my darkling loves, makes the heart go thump and the world go round.
Of course, I wouldn’t mind failing due to success. But finding an agent means starting a new cycle of publisher rejections, so even in that scenario, I may make 100 rejections yet.
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